PART III: DESTINY

Chapter 13

Adannu, Part I

Fire…

A narrow emerald beam of charged particles lanced out…

Rizza focused her attention on the Jedi Master…

The blue-green planet seemed to vibrate under the brief barrage…

She peered deeper…

At the impact point, towering flames erupted…

Past flesh and bone…

The inferno spread across the small continent…

Past the blue flames of Light that surrounded him…

The sudden deaths of thousands screamed out in the Force…

To the glowing ember of rage…

Silence.

As suddenly as it began, the spear of energy died. For an instant, an oppressive peace seemed to fill all of existence.

The Ember glowed

Rizza smiled.

All was as it should be. A simple push was all that was required…


As Kaine stepped of from the tiny craft, a sudden shriek of death pierced through his extensive shields. He thought he had been prepared for this moment. He had convinced himself that the destruction of the planet would be meaningless. He was Sith. The Sith do not suffer due to loss of life like the Jedi do.

As his knees gave way and he fell to the floor, he realized his error. The Sith feel just as much as the Jedi—more, even—for the Sith use their emotions to fuel their power. Detachment from those emotions could only occur after they had been experienced and reflected upon.

Kaine waited…and suffered.

Silence.

For an instant, the deathly quiet wrapped itself around him with cold insistence.

The battle station had grown equally still. Ensconcing himself in the icy depths of the Dark Side of the Force, Kaine breathed deeply, drawing on its power, and stood. Glancing about the hanger, he settled his gaze on another undisturbed vessel, nestled between two damaged shuttles.

Then the durasteel beneath his feet gave way.


The Force warned her and she leapt.

Rizza landed gracefully on the balcony above but found no purchase. As she grasped desperately to the railing, she glared at Yoda. He continued to stand rigidly, apparently staring at nothing and seemingly unaffected by the intense tremors that rocked the station.

With sudden ferocity, klaxons blared.

Yoda remained still.

Rizza struggled to maintain her footing. Focusing her attention on the console before Yoda, Rizza shut down the alarms and began feverishly trying to engage the inertial dampening systems. With the use of her hands, this would have been a formidable task in and of itself as cascading failures shut down one access point after another. Using only the Force as her concentration was shaken with each horrendous shudder of the vessel, it was nearly impossible.

She focused her rage.

Yoda did this! He had planned it all along. He sabotaged the ship so that if the weapon was fired, the resulting power surges would destroy the battle station. She gazed again deeply at him, past the peripheral light.

The Ember remained.

It glowed hotter with each moment and the weak-willed Jedi was desperately trying to prevent it from igniting. Good. His mind was focused elsewhere.

Before her next exhale had left her lungs, Rizza had crossed the divide and stood at the console, rapidly engaging secondary systems. She hazarded a glance at Yoda, whose eyes remained closed as if deep in meditation.

Before long, Rizza was ahead of the cascades. She could not stop the inevitable but she could delay it for several minutes, maybe longer. A series of commands, and the quakes ended abruptly. A few moments more, and the station stilled. Sighing loudly, Rizza entered yet more instructions into the station's computers.

Darkness.

"I've had to shut down all life support, Yoda," she called out into the dark. "You may have destroyed this station but you have not saved Migruna and you will not have destroyed me."

Low rumbling vibrations began anew.

"We don't have much time," she could hear the crack in her voice. Was that desperation? Did she really want him so badly that she could not sacrifice him? No. If he would not join her, then he would be destroyed. She nodded. "Your choice, Yoda. Come with me and live, or die here alone…for nothing."

The disembodied sound of his voice came from behind her. "Destroyed Migruna III, you have not." She spun instantly, searching the darkness.

"Nonsense. We felt them die."

Now, the voice came from her side. "Died, many did. But live, many more will."

Rizza spun once again. "What game are you playing at, Yoda?" Rizza drew her lightsaber and its ruby glow pierced the darkness. "Migruna III is gone. Now join me or die." She swept her blade around, trying to anticipate where he might be.

Her sensitive ears picked up none of his breathing.

Her powers in the Force sensed none of his presence.

"Where are you!"

"See for yourself."

The viewscreen suddenly lit up behind her and filled with the blue-green vista of Migruna III. The inferno on the main continent had already died down to the point that it was no longer visible from space.

No!

Her throat closed. "Impossible…"

"Wanted to see my power in the dark side, you did, hmmm?"

Rizza twisted toward the sound, now to her left. By the time her blade illuminated the darkness, there was nothing there but the far wall. The viewscreen deactivated and the control room plunged into darkness again.

"Yoda…please…"

"Wanted to reap the benefit of that power, you did, hmmm?"

For the first time in as long as she could remember, a new feeling crept up her spine. It was so foreign that she did not recognize it at first. It was cold. It caused the hairs on her arms to straighten. Her blood froze. Her chest pounded. Her breath caught in her throat.

"Yoda…" she swallowed, "there is so much I can teach you."

"Taught me all that you need to, you have."

Behind her.

She spun.

Too late.

A blur of emerald power burst through the dark.

Rizza met the strikes as rapidly as she could.

Faster and faster, the energy struck out.

"Yoda…please…"

Her weapon clattered against the floor and deactivated. It took several moments for her to realize that her hand was still attached to it.

She called on the darkness and struck out blindly with all the power at her disposal.

Lightning plunged into the space where the green energy had been but clashed harmlessly against a bulkhead.

Abruptly the electrical storm ended. It took far fewer moments for her to understand that she would never use that hand again. She dropped to her knees.

"I love you," she whispered.

Stepping out of the darkness, Yoda's face glowed ominously with the light from his blade. Rizza looked up into his eyes and searched for…what? Compassion? She stared into the Force and the Ember glowed brighter than ever.

Rizza nodded.

Very well.

The goal was all that mattered. The lives of those who stood before the result were merely obstacles to be overrun. She was Sith. She did not fear death. In death, she would achieve a greater victory than either Yoda or Kaine could ever imagine.

She lifted her head high and smiled.

Her voice had returned to its former strength. She could breathe again. Why had she ever been afraid? She had to accept. The will of the Force was complex and mysterious.

"Go ahead, Yoda." Rizza lifted herself higher, pushing her neck dangerously close to Yoda's extended blade. "Avenge Gandol. Avenge Prime Village! Take my life!"

Yoda's eyes glowered for an instant. The corners of his mouth turned downward as he raised his weapon high above his head.

A small chirping sound emanated from Rizza's chest.

"Master Tyú," Kaine's voice filled the silent room. "I have a ship ready for your escape. We have very little time. Leave Yoda and come immediately. We can find another apprentice."

Rizza pulled her brows together. What was Frigeus doing? She was not to be interrupted for anything. Her instructions were clear! A twist of the Force and the communicator shattered next to her breast.

She redirected her attention to Yoda, who stood frozen in place.

She focused all of her power and will at his mind.

"Do it!"

Darkness.

She knew he was gone before she saw the light break from the parting of the doors.

Rizza collapsed to the floor, spent.

Slowing her breathing, she contemplated her next move. In her fit of rage, she had stupidly destroyed her only means of contacting Frigeus directly. The vibrations of the floor grew in intensity.

Focusing her power in the Force, she reached out to find her apprentice. The two of them would regroup and further the plans of the Sith. The Sith would have their revenge.

Yoda would suffer.

She would make him watch as she dismantled his precious Jedi Order right before his eyes. Hate filled her. She would destroy everything that he held dear. She smiled as she felt power course through her being. Then she would destroy him.

Yoda would die at the hands of the Sith.

She stretched out with her feelings and was surprised to find Frigeus' presence so quickly. He was close.

Too close.

"Dorran?"

"Yes, my Master."

Rizza frowned, confused.

"How long have you been here?"

A bloodshine light pierced the darkness.

"Search your feelings, Master." Kaine's voice was low, threatening. "You know the answer to that question."

That feeling returned and Rizza swallowed hard. "Dorran," her voice cracked once again, "you pledged yourself to my teachings. You cannot do this."

A chilling sound rose above the rumbling of the vessel. She had never heard it from him before. It struck her as odd that after over thirty years together she had never heard her apprentice genuinely laugh.

It grew louder, more menacing.

"Kaine. There is much more I can teach you. Don't throw away the power I have to offer you."

The laughter grew.

"Dorran! Stop this! I am your Master."

Suddenly the laughter stopped and Rizza thought for a moment that she had somehow gotten through to him. The disdain on his face that brusquely appeared next to hers caused that hope to evaporate.

"Pathetic!" he spat.

"Dorran—"

"Enough!" Kaine's visage once again dissolved into the darkness.

"You treacherous fool! You cannot destroy me!"

The blade descended with blinding speed. The screams of warning in the Force only served to let her know that the target was her exposed neck.

As the darkness clouded her mind as well as her eyes, she smiled inwardly at the final words she would hear.

"Treachery is the way of the Sith."